1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to chip packages, methods of making the chip packages, and digital camera modules using the package and, particularly, to a miniaturized chip package, a method of making the miniaturized chip package, and a digital camera module using the miniaturized chip package.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the ongoing development of microcircuitry and multimedia technologies, digital cameras are now in widespread use. High-end portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), are being developed to be increasingly multi-functional. Many of these portable electronic devices are now equipped with a digital camera module. The drive is to produce portable electronic devices that are increasingly smaller to satisfy the demand for portablility. Accordingly, the digital camera modules integrated in the portable electronic devices should have a compact volume to achieve the purpose of miniaturizing the portable electronic devices.
In a digital camera module, a chip package is a very important component in determining the volume of the digital camera module and quality of the pictures captured by the digital camera module. Referring to FIG. 1, a widely used, typical image sensor chip package 100a includes a carrier 10, an image sensor chip 20, a plurality of wires 23, a first adhesive 30, a second adhesive 40, and a cover 50.
The carrier 10 includes a base plate 11 and a sidewall 12 upwardly extending from a peripheral portion of the base plate 11. The base plate 11 and the sidewall 12 cooperatively define a receiving cavity 13 therebetween. The carrier 11 also includes a plurality of top contacts 14, arranged on a top surface of the base plate 10 and contained in the receiving cavity 13, and a plurality of bottom contacts 16, formed on a bottom surface of the base plate 11. Each top contact 14 is electrically connected to a corresponding bottom contact 16 via a respective conductor member 15 formed integrally with the base plate 11.
The image sensor chip 20 is received in the receiving cavity 13 and is secured on the base plate 11 via the first adhesive 30. A sensing portion 21 is formed on a surface of the image sensor 20. A plurality of pads 22 are formed around the sensing portion 21, and the pads 22 are connected to the contacts 14 via the wires 23.
The first adhesive 30 is applied to the top surface of the base plate 11, around the chip 20, and covers the pads 22, the wires 23, and the contacts 14.
The cover 50 is mounted on a top of the sidewall 12, via the second adhesive 40, to enclose the chip 20 in the receiving cavity 13.
In the image sensor chip package 100a, the top surface of the base plate 11, peripherally surrounded by the sidewall 12, must contain the top contacts 14 and the chip 20 together. Further, sufficient space should be provided between the chip 20 and an inside surface of the sidewall 12 for movement of wire bonding tools used to connect the wires 23 with the pads 22 and the top contacts 14. Therefore, package volume for packaging the chip 12 is a lot larger than that taken up by the chip 20, which results in a relatively larger volume of the image sensor chip package 100a. As such, the chip package 100 is not optimally suited for slim, compact electronic products.